The Way It Happened
by Raynor Zeraph
Summary: Another novelization. Yes, I know it's an idea several have already executed, and a few of them probably did a better job at it than I'll be able to, but I think I can bring something interesting to the table, too. Besides, it's always interesting to get a new take on a story, right? I WILL NOT be adhering exactly to the story. How much I'll deviate... Is yet to be determined.
1. 1: Outset

ANOTHER ONE?! Yes, I've decided to do another novelization of cave story, and yes,

it's most certainly going to be an alternate telling of the story. Many of the right points will be there, but I feel that this game has had enough novelizations that even one more true retelling would be a good bit of overkill. There will not be lemons(I don't think), but I tend to be unable to write without there being swear words involved, just like I have difficulty talking under the same rules. This will more or less be a "make it up as I go" story, as I don't really have a tone, or character plans, or anything of the sort. It's been a little while since I played the game so I'm honestly going to just play through the game, and stop every so often and write up to the point I'm at in the game. I hope you enjoy, and I hope I finish it, because I think this could be a lot of fun for me, and a good story for you!

EDIT: I realized that my formatting was not transferred to this when I uploaded it, so I should have it fixed now. Whups. :b

The little robot boy clicked and whirred in the dark as the motor that powered him sprung back to life. slowly life began to find its way into him as, first, a finger on his right hand lifted slightly. His hand slowly clenched, then unclenched, before his head lifted upwards and his eyes flickered open. He slowly looked around at the cave he found himself in, water dripped from the ceiling into a shallow pool below, echoing through the empty chamber as the drops struck the surface.

 _Quote... my name... is Quote..._

He glanced around the room more as his eyes adjust. and slowly rises to his feet.

 _My name is Quote... Why am I here...? I know my name... and... There's something I have_

 _to do. Something important... why... what... I... have to go..._

Quote starts to step around, and sees a door on a ledge higher up in the cave. After a short hop, testing his legs, he takes a few steps to build momentum before launching himself up towards the door, leaving the place he awoke, the sounds of some manner of life reaching his ears as he steps out into a tunnel.

 _My gun..._ Quote checks his systems and finds his machine gun is nonfunctional, discarding it as he moves down the tunnel, making quick progress as he avoids the creatures that swoop down towards him. he pulls himself over a couple more ledges, and into a doorway at the end. a man sits, leaning against the wall and snoring loudly. He has unkempt gray hair, shooting out in every angle, and a beard that blends seamlessly into it. The man had obviously gone quite some time without any personal grooming. The metal boy prods him, sending him rolling to his side, but only snoring more loudly. More prodding proves ineffective, and even shaking the hermit fails to wake him from his slumber.

 _A VERY heavy sleeper..._

A Chest lies open on the other end, and Quote ambles over to look inside, spying a Polar Star handgun in the bottom. Well built, and, his systems informed him, was fully functional.

 _Hopefully he won't mind... I'll need some kind of weapon, though... and I know I have to do something important..._

He leaves the room, looking back at the old man as he sputters in his sleep, mumbling something incoherent, before making his way back the way he had come, blasting any creatures that strayed too near. He reached a crumbling wall, and, after inspecting it for a moment, raised the polar star to bring it to rubble. Just beyond, a door lay in the wall, sunken downwards from apparent age. Reaching his hand out to grab the handle, a metal jaw swung shut, nearly taking his hand off as it closed shut with a loud _"Clang!"._

In an immediate action, he blasted into the door until it gave way and blasted inwards, taking the ground underneath him with it.

 _Not good!_ He tried to make a leap backwards, but the ground was already falling away too quickly, and as he twisted his body and reached backwards to grab at anything he could, he fell down into a dark pit.


	2. 2: Introductions are In Order

He saw light, further down, and as he came closer to its source, he could see a few scattered buildings, and some kind of creatures standing and talking almost immediately below him He made an attempt to shout a warning, and possibly move them out of the way, but as his systems began to re-activate, he was already about to hit the ground right between them. The ground smashed around him and dust and rocks flew up all around. The small one went running quickly away from him, and the larger one simply fell into the ground, shocked, but not terrified as his friend.

Quote looked around, and determined that he hadn't been harmed by the fall. His dampeners must be fully functioning, still. As he stood back up, he saw the white, fur-covered creature watching him suspiciously, a fairly large rock held in its paw, eyes narrowed, a scar reaching from one side of an eye to the other.

 _A... Mimiga... I remember what it's called..._

"Who are you...!" The mimiga took another glance up and down at Quotes body, pale and rubbery. "What... What are you...?" Quote's mouth opened again, and noise began to come free, this time. At first it was simply static and garbled whirring, his vocal systems still obviously warming up after what must have been an extended period of inactivity. The mimiga watched him curiously, his guard dropping as he watched the silly boy try to find his voice. Quote held up a finger in a gesture for him to wait a moment, and lowered his face, softly 'speaking' to himself until it sounded that he was able to talk normally, albeit slowly.

"I'm... no... danger... you... are... a mimiga..." Quote's voice turned to static again, and he closed his mouth again, holding his finger out as he lowered his head and ran some diagnostics. He determined that his systems were still not ready, but had no real damage to them. "I am... a robot... I don't... know... name... Who are you...?"

The mimiga took a less aggressive, but still guarded posture, and looked the robot in the eyes. "I'm King... I'm the leader of us here at the village, but there aren't many of us left, since they started taking us." Quotes eyebrow raised slightly at the end, something resonating in his databanks that he didn't fully understand, but knew it was significant. "They...? Who are... 'they'...?" King looked angry, and the grip on the rock tightened. "The doctor and his lackeys... that witch and... thing..." He looked away and up, obviously upset. "They're too powerful for us to defend ourselves, so when they come... We have to give them Sue... Or they'll end up taking as all away!

Quote nods, but knows he has to do something about it. "Sue..." King just watches him as he walks away, inspecting the village. It's not big, but it's in a fairly spacious cavern; there's more room vertically than there is to the sides. He decides that he'll begin his search from the top and make his way down, so he can work his way methodically through the village. He makes his way through the door closest to him, and finds a small reservoir with a mimiga on a far platform, fishing. It takes practically no notice of him, apparently not thinking him a threat like King did, and Quote makes his way to the waters edge, inspecting for anything else to see. He turns to leave, as the mimiga calls out to him.

"Hey... Hey there...!" Quote turns to face him, and sees the mimiga immediately throw something shiny towards him. Catching it, He sees it to be the metal form of a fish, a leather cord through it as a necklace. The mimiga nods, and gives him a small grin. "Give that to Toroko for me! I know it's hers, and she'll be missing it if she doesn't get it back!" Quote nods, then turns back out and leaves.

After dropping down to the floor of the cave, he comes upon a locked door, and moves on to another house with nothing in it. As he goes to leave, though, a mimiga comes out of hiding and charges him, a clearly feminine voice shouting at him. "Get away from me...!" He easily dodges, and uses a fraction of his strength to easily shove her down, then backs up a few steps and holds still, simply watching as she groans and covers her head, expecting a blow, or perhaps a gunshot. After a few moments of silence, however, she makes a small confused noise and rolls over, leaning back on her palms. "You... You aren't going to...?" Quote just watches her as she stands. "You're not a killer robot, like the others... the others before...?"

"No... I'm not... dangerous..." His voice was starting to come more easily to him, now. The mimiga comes closer to him, peering into his face. "I won't let them take Sue, do you hear me...? She's a good person, even if she's a stranger!" Quote puts his hands up and grins slightly. "I don't plan... to let... anything happen to... anyone..." "Well..." The mimiga grins widely, and perks up both visibly and vocally. "Good! I'm Toroko. Who... What are you?" Quote opens his mouth to open, but he's interrupted as the ground shakes, and the far wall explodes into rubble and dust. Quote pushes Toroko behind him, and draws the polar star, taking a ready stance as the debris clears enough to see the intruder.

A large, square, stony beast stands in the opening, with an uncharacteristically friendly face, and seemingly very happy to be doing what he was currently doing. "Huzzah!" The loud voice was, like the face, incredibly warm and welcoming, but the other form appearing in the air near him was, decidedly, very _unfriendly._ She had dark hair, pale skin, and piercing, fiery red eyes. Her face was contorted into a cruel smirk, and she had a staff in her hand that cackled with a dark energy.

"Well there you are...!" She looks down at Toroko with malice in her expression, her grin giving away her intentions as she raises her staff. "It's about time we got you to the Doctor, don't you think, Sue?" A pulse of distortion centers on the top of the staff, and a bubble surrounds Toroko, raising her to next to herself. "Clean this up, then, Balrog." And in another instant, before there's anything to do about it, both of them had vanished.

"But, Misery...!" The happy expression from Balrog faded for a moment, and he grumbled slightly. "I've always gotta clean things up..." The goofy grin returns, and he looks at Quote like they're about to play some fabulous game. "Alright then...!" He does a tiny hop, shaking the ground, then charges surprisingly quickly for his size, straight at the tiny robot, shaking the entire structure.

Quote leaps over him, blasting repeatedly with the polar star, taking note of how little effect it seems to have on the impressively strong creature, but knows it does at least _hurt_ , judging by the change in his face. Balrog comes a somewhat quick stop, given his momentum, and then launches himself into the air, apparently aiming to land right on top of him. Rolling to dodge, he manages to get away in time, but shards of stone fly out from the impact and stream past his head and arms, leaving small tears in his artificial skin. Backing up slowly, He continues to unload volleys of energy at Balrog, all over his face as he attempts to make progress towards Quote.

"No more...!" Balrog tries, in vain, to wipe the burns from the blasts off his face, then jumps through the roof, shouting before he breaks through. "See you soon...!" The structure rumbles from the impact, and Quote barely makes it out in time before the entire thing comes crashing down. He had managed to make it out unscathed, but... why did Balrog seem to be going so easy on him...?


	3. 3: I Never Knew

It may or may not be apparent, but right now I've been writing basically instead of sleeping. The last couple chapters I completely neglected to do any kind of proofreading at all, and I just read back through it. I'm not quite motivated enough (Or sure enough that I'm going to finish this particular story) to go back and fix my mistakes, or make revisions where I think its necessary. Honestly, I hope you've stuck it out to at least read this far into it, as short as my chapters have been(Or seem to me). I hope you've enjoyed the story so far, and now that I'm warming back up to writing, I hope it gets a bit better for you! (Bear with me if stylistic changes occur, and please let me know if I start changing tense, it's a very bad habit I have).

Secondary note; I realized as I read through the first two chapters on my phone, that _Italics_ are not friendly for the mobile app, at this time, so internal monologue will now be marked with '' single quotes, for clarification through all media.

Quote made his way quickly back to King, urgently asking him while still from a distance. "Where is Sue...?!" King looked around, and, seeing Quote running towards him, makes a fist, still wary of the robot. "Why do you need to know...?" Aggravated, He shouts louder, while closer. "They took Toroko...! Misery, and Balrog took her to the Doctor!" Kings eyes shot open, and he growled, his teeth grit tightly. "They what?!" He practically barked the next words, and looked like he was going to take a swing. "Damn them! How could you let that hap-" "You think I would let it happen?!" It was Quote's turn to be angry, and he glowered at King. "I don't know who I am, or why I'm here, but I know that I have to do something important, and I can't think of anything more important than protecting those who are good...! I know Toroko is kind, and good... and I hope that you are, too..." Quote calmed down, his hand un clenching as he took a breath to calm himself. "Sorry..."

King seemed bothered, but obviously didn't want it to show. "The door to the house she's in is locked... Toroko had one of the keys... The other... I don't know... It's somewhere in the cemetery." King faced away, pointing towards the far wall of the cave, and obviously still upset, but no longer yelling, and Quote took his leave. He headed in the direction King pointed, and quickly made it to the door, walking through to the cemetary. There were mushrooms bounding around, mostly harmless little things that would be no bother to him, and other than a gravekeeper with a saber, there seemed to be nothing else in the area. He climbed around, quickly looking around and seeing nothing of import, until he made it to a larger tombstone on a hill in the center.

 _Here sleeps the noble Arthur,_

 _A true hero to the Mimigas._

The ground in front of the tomb had obviously been disturbed recently, a small patch of recently tilled soil directly under where he was standing. Reaching into the ground, he quickly found a small key, soil falling away as he shakes it, placing it in his pocket. He bounds from the graveyard, jumping from the ledge in the village straight down to the locket home below, and quickly using the key to get inside. A whirring came from the computer that sat against the wall. Glancing at the screen, a portion of text saying "I will if I have to, though..." sits, unanswered. There seems to be no traces of Sue, but there is a teleporter pad in the room, the obvious route through which Sue must have left. Stepping onto the pad, Quote activates its only destination, and the ensuing light blinds him, for a moment, as everything around him changes.

As the shimmer fades, he sees a long, open corridor, filled with massive dragons eggs in the lower portion. Beetles fly to and fro, their sharp mandibles reflecting the light occasionally as they take only brief notice of the intruder. He makes some progress down the way, blasting an occasional as it takes too close a notice of him, turning with open jaws towards him and advancing. All the other beasts seemed to completely ignore him, and he only occasionally had to slow his progress.

 _How am I going to find her...?_ Quote tries to think ahead, and make sense of what's going on, but he has very little to go on. _I know I have to find her... and I have to do... something else... but what is it...?_ A large beast catches his eye, and a mimiga stands in front of it. "You think you can take me on, you big brute? Go ahead and try it!" The tiny mimiga makes jabbing motions in the air, and quickly gets a thorough beating by the beast as it completely ignores her, pucking her up and leaping down the egg corridor with incredible speed, outpacing Quote by a longshot as he races to try and keep up.

 _That must have been Sue...! She can help... she has to be able to help, or know something, or know someone who knows something... anything to help me figure out why I'm here, and what I need to do..._

with less caution, Quote blasts away at the beetles as they start to swarm him, further into the corridor. ' _There must be a nest towards the end, they seem to be more aggressive now..._ ' He launches himself over a rather large gap between two egg cases, and stops promptly by a doorway. Stepping inside, he sees rows and rows of computers, a bed, and a small lift at the end of the room. Glancing sidelong at the computers, they display diagnostic information, and diagrams of dragons eggs, listing temperatures, electrical information, and incubator status. the majority all seem similar, but he notices a few glowing red in the dim lighting.

The main terminal, next to him, displays entirely different information for him.

"I can't get to Egg -00- with that barrier up, and the terminal to unlock it was placed in egg -02-, one of the failed incubations. It would normally be no problem, but with the wildlife occupying this place so thoroughly, I could never make it underneath to it..."

Quote glances down at the computers, and decides to give them a check. That information had saved him quite a bit of trouble, to say the least, so he decided to give them all at least a passing glance. They all listed similar statistics, normal statuses, and the like, other than the red terminal on his floor, for egg -04-, which was decidedly terminated or failed. He rode the lift to the upper floor, and found the rest of the terminals unhelpful. There was, however, a chest at the end, rusted completely shut. He appraised it from close, and his sensors inform him that it was just around ten years old, and hadn't been opened in about as much time. It was no trouble opening it for him, though, and what was inside made this detour completely worth the time.

' _A rocket launcher. How strange... what happened ten years ago...?'_

He straps it to his back, and continued on his way, leaving the computers behind as he leaps across to the next incubator block, mentally noting the eggs as he passes them.

 _'Egg -05-, climb the barrier, blast the swarm... jump the gap, egg -04-, dodge the beetles...'_

A blast of green zips by his head, nearly striking him head on as he lands on egg -03-, quickly following it to the source; a huge, monster of a beetle, it's maw open and dripping a viscious-looking fluid as green light glows further down its gullet, growing bright as another green orb comes launching at him. He rolls to a kneeling position, brings the rocket launcher from his back, and sends a single rocket launching straight towards it, hitting it dead center through its open jaws, sending green guts and black husk in every direction as it explodes inside its throat.

' _I need to be more careful. That was a powerful blast for a biological weapon. Who knows what other creatures I'll encounter that can attack like that...'_

He jumps to egg -02-, and climbs slowly down, a white wisp flying past his face as he leans towards the access tunnel underneath. Every sensor built into him alarms all at once, and he barely avoids having his entire head taken off by it. "Holy shit!" He falls back and smashes into some equipment, sending a small gathering of beetles his way that are quickly dispatched.

' _What the hell was that thing?!'_

It wizzes by again, his sensors alarming slightly less now that he was a little further from it. Whatever it was, biological or mechanical, it had energy levels off the charts. It emitted every form of energy he could sense other than radioactive; electrical, thermal, and solar, in such massive quantities that it would probably completely vaporize him if it made any contact with him. It passed by again, having obviously come back from where it came. Each time it passed was a decent amount of time, fifteen seconds or so, and he would only have to travel about ten feet in the tunnel to reach the access point of the egg, so he should have plenty of time, so long as nothing held him up...

As soon as it passes by again, he jumps down and darts straight towards egg -02-, jumping up into the access platform with plenty of time to spare. He climbs up into a room built into the egg itself, and uses the terminal to deactivate the shield, wherever it may be. Quote waits for the energy form to pass again, and jumps down... to see green light. he drops to the floor just in time to dodge the beetles blast, then fires repeatedly into its face, running towards it and punching hard when he reaches it, eliciting a shrill squeal as its wings stop fluttering and it is launched backwards, just far enough that he can run past and climb up. The moment he clears himself out of the way, the body of the beetle immediately disappearing with a loud fizzle.

' _Too close... Way too close...'_

He climbs back on top of the incubator blocks, and makes his way to egg -01-, and then the ledge beyond, where an open doorway of sorts led to a large room beyond the corridor, and inside he saw the white beast.

"No one can do anything to master's eggs! They are his! The eggs are not yours, or anyone elses!" Quote groans. Sentient... but just barely. He didn't want to have to kill the brute, but combat was certainly inevitable. He drew the polar star and took one step forward, opening his mouth to speak- "NO! YOU WILL NOT TOUCH! NOT YOURS! MASTERS EGGS ARE FOR MASTER!" It charge towards him with incredible speed, and he barely launches himself over it in time to avoid a huge punch that drives into the ground. He twirls himself mid-air, firing onto its head, and neck, and into the big brute's back before landing, and leaping backwards to avoid the vengeful backhand it sends at him. The strike leaves it off balance, though, and Quote uses the opportunity to launch himself at it, and uses both feet to kick into the monster's chest, sprawling him onto his back as Quote himself rises high into the air, and launching a volley of five missiles downwards.

The ensuing cacophony of noise blurs into static as it rises to volumes his sensors are not equipped to handle, the blackened fur and bleeding body left on the ground in a heap. It was... unfortunate... that something of intelligence had to perish, but... It was too strong. The first punch had made a crater half as big as his body in the solid metal that formed the floor. That thing could have easily pulverized him if it had gotten the opportunity. Even more unfortunate, however, is what Quote saw happen to the bloody, blackened heap.

' _No... oh god...'_

The body changed, slowly, and began to become smaller, and smaller, until it was no larger than... a mimiga... It looked just like one, actually, other than the burns and blood... Somehow a mimiga had been changed into an incredibly strong, fast, and bloodthirsty monster. Quote dropped to the floor next to it, a soft gurgle escaping it as it's lungs stopped filling. "What did this to you?" He lowered his head, and grit his teeth. He didn't know the poor creature, and he didn't have to. He had met a few mimiga already, and knew them to be mostly docile creatures, certainly not violent, and absolutely not deserving of this kind of fate. He swore he would never kill another creature as pure as this again. Not if he could stop it...

He gathered himself, though, and stood up, taking a deep breath to calm himself as he made his way to the building just behind him. Inside he found the small mimiga, Sue, he thought to himself, lying on the ground, but breathing. He approached it and placed a hand softly on her shoulder, shaking gently.

With a start, She cried out and brought her paw up to strike him in the face... and hurt herself. "Owwww...! What the...?!" She scurries to her feet, backing up from Quote as quickly as possible. "Killer robo-..." She stops in the middle of the sentence, and watches him. "Wait... there aren't supposed to be any more robots on this island... what are you doing here?"

Quote watches as 'Sue' tries to make sense of his existence, and decides he had best speak up, even though he himself didn't really know anything. "I don't know why I'm here... I only woke up just today... But I know I have an important mission, whatever it might be." He nods resolutely. "And I also know that toroko needs my help!" Sue's eyes widen when he says that, and runs up to him, grabbing his shoulders. "What?! What happened?" "She was taken, by the witch, Misery." Sue lowers her head and speaks softly, almost too low to hear. "She was the only one who was nice to me... And now the doctor..." She stops, and bounds past him, surprisingly agile as she moves.

"I have to help her!" Quote turns to follow, but immediately can tell he won't be able to keep up. She yells back at him. "Follow me if you really want to help!" He tries, and she's in sight for a short while, but quickly loses her as the beetles her commotion brings out turn their attention to him, forcing him to blast them away. He eventually reaches the teleporter that had brought him to the egg corridor, and steps inside; Sue must have gone on without him.


	4. 4: That Was Unexpected

I know I'm not really following the story, per-se, but I said I wouldn't be doing so. I don't want to completely copy the dialogue, and this is more an exercise for me to get back into writing than anything else. It's been YEARS since I seriously wrote, so I'm trying to get back into the swing of things. It's grueling, comparing my descriptions, dialogue, even typing speed to short stories I wrote back then. (although some parts of the stories I posted back then make me cringe, now, haha.) Anyways, I hope it doesn't throw you too much, and I hope I can do it justice with the changes I make.

second note; I'm still failing to proofread or edit my story. I'll probably do it later today, or tomorrow before I go back to work, but I'm just... enjoying myself right now. :b

He stepped out of the light of the portal and looked around expectantly. He would have thought that Sue would wait for him to get through the portal, or otherwise be busy on the computer, considering it seemed like someone was trying to contact her earlier, but the only one he could see was a mimiga in a green coat and brown hat standing by the door. "Hey... Where's Sue...?" The mimiga answered almost matter-of-factly. "She's responsible for Toroko being taken; the next time the Doctor's goons show up, we're going to offer Sue for a trade, and try to get Toroko back." Quote just stood staring at him, and couldn't believe what he'd just heard.

"Are you kidding me...? Do you really think those two are going to give Toroko back...?! They'll just take Sue and leave! How could you think that's ever going to work?!" Quote runs past him, through the door, and quickly makes the climb up to where he had seen the jail cell he was next to when he fell unceremoniously into the village at first. He saw King, standing rather smugly, and Sue in the cage, hands on the bars, arguing with him. "Please! My brother is stuck, I need to get to him! The Doctor is a villain; he's evil! He'll never give Toroko back, he'll just take what he wants!" Quote approaches and King steps in his way, glaring up at Quote. "No way, you just take a step back." Quote stops, but it's obvious in King's expression that he expects trouble anyways. "She's our only chance at getting Toroko back; and we have to take care of our own before we worry about this _stranger_." He says stranger like he's spitting out bile, like the creature he's referring to has no worth, simply because she comes from somewhere else.

Quote looks to Sue, her eyes pleading with him to do something, then back to King, who simply takes another step to place himself directly between Quote and the cage. "Let me just talk to her... I heard her; her brother's in trouble. Maybe I can at least help him..."

' _I don't want to leave her... but I can't harm this guy just because he's wrong..._ '

King stands for a moment, then crosses his arms, and takes a couple steps to the side. "Fine, you can talk... but any funny business, and we're gonna have some trouble, ya hear?" Quote shakes his head, and steps up to the bars, a small smile coming to Sue's face as he gets closer. "Thank you... You're good, I can tell... you have to help him, he barely escaped the Doctor, but now he's trapped in the grasslands. His name is Kazuma, and if you go to the computer in Arthur's house, all you have to do is accept the coordinates and the teleporter will take you there. I'm not sure exactly where he is, once you're there, but surely you can figure it out." Sue's face drops a little, emphasizing the importance of her brother's safety. "You have to help him... And I know he can help us, if you rescue him."

Quote nods, his voice resolute and mind set on doing whatever he can for anyone he can. He knows this much at least; It's the right thing to do. "I'll go right away, and I'll get your brother back to you, if there's anything to be done about it." Sue grins a little, and breathes out a sigh of relief like she's been holding her breath for hours. "Thank you. Thank you so much..." And with that Quote heads back to the teleporter room, determined to find out everything he can.

The monitor glows blue, a conversation sitting towards the top of the screen, and in the middle a set of numbers is listed, most definitely the coordinates, with a prompt sitting empty next to them. 'Accept teleporter destination? y/n _' He accepts the coordinates and the teleporter chimes after a short moment, apparently ready for activation. He takes a step in, and immediately the white light flashes, taking the robot boy with it as it fades.

Grasstown is much as he expected; grass, and dirt, and hills cover just about all of the space he can see. He expected it to be more wide open, and hopefully even see the sky finally, but he wasn't too disappointed by that, there was something important he was here for, so he didn't even need to know where 'here' was, as curious as he was about that. A mimiga is nearby, looking sullen and hungry, and he turns to face Quote, having apprently noticed the teleporter's operation. "Hey, you! Maybe you can help me!" The furry mimiga bounds up closer to him, and rubs at his stomach as he speaks. "You look like you can handle yourself... better than I can, at least! My name's Santa, and, well, you see... I dropped my key, and I can't get inside my house! There's critters, and bats, and all kinds of baddies roaming around, and I had to high-tail it away before I got myself pounded! But... I dropped my key, and there's no way I could get past all of them to get it back..." He drops to his knees and begs comically "Please! I'm so hungry! All of my food is in there!" Quote shakes his leg slightly to free it from Santa's grasp, and nods slightly, embarrassed by the sudden outburst. "Of course I'll get your key, just let go of me and I'll get it...!" Santa grins, ear to ear, and shakes his hands together in gratitude. "Oh thank you so much! I can't wait to eat something, I'm practically starving!"

Quote can already see the key as he peers down through the opening before him, and quickly heads off to get it. _'once I get this, maybe he can help me find Kazuma and get back to Sue. Hopefully he can straighten things out and convince King to let her out of the cage._ ' He makes quick work of the critters and bats, and picks up the key, returning immediately to Santa. Santa is practically in tears, grinning so wide it's unbelievable that there's even room on his face for it. "Oh Thankyou-thankyou-thankyou-thankyou-" Santa's words all the while he snatches the key and runs to his house, immediately disappearing inside. Quote watches, stunned, before following him to the house. "Hey, Santa! I was actually going... to... ask... you a..." The sentence drops away as Quote watches a practical blue of fur devouring food in front of him. an entire basket full of flowers gone in mere moments. Santa slumps down as he finishes the last couple, savoring them for as long as it took to eat the rest of the basket, and burps loudly after swallowing the last mouthful. "Oh hey, what was that? Ask me what?" He grins at the robot, obviously content with himself.

Quote shakes his head and concentrates on the task before him. "I'm looking for someone, his name is Kazuma, and he's somewhere in Grasstown. I was hoping you could tell me where to look for him." Santa leans his head to one side, then the other, before answering. "No... I don't know a Kazuma... But I'll tell you what, if you head the way you found my key, and keep going down that way, there's a bunch of other buildings down at the end of this place. If he's alive, and he's here, he's gotta be in one of those buildings. Just be careful of all the critters!" ' _I guess that's helpful, even though there's not really anywhere else to go..._ ' quote starts to head for the door, but nearly trips as Santa shouts loudly at him. "Wait! One more thing!" Quote catches his balance just before falling forward into the ground, and sighs, turning to the pudgy mimiga. "Grasstown is full of great big red spikes. Those things are dangerous! You DEFINATELY don't wanna fall onto those bad boys!" "Uh... Thanks, Santa." Quote turns again, leaving the house and heading back where he had just been.

He goes up and down the hills, making good time, he thinks to himself, considering the density of Critters and bats that seem to constantly be in his way. He passes by them as he can, but quickly finds his Polar Star nearly overheating as he blasts his way through the swarms of 'baddies' on the way. Finally, Quote... reaches a dead end, one one building in front of him, and no apparent way to move beyond it. ' _Damnit, Santa... you definitely said there would be more than one building..._ ' Quote steps inside, and finds a tiny pink mimiga standing by a fireplace. She jumps, and turns, looking slightly nervous, but tries to cover her surprise with a friendly attitude. "Oh! You surprised me! What are you... doing here?" She has a sheepish smile, but Quote can tell he has her worried. "I'm looking for someone, a man named Kazuma, and he's somewhere in Grasstown. Santa pointed me this way, but... he said there would be a bunch of buildings, and I can only see this one."

The mimiga relaxes visibly, and squeaks an answer. "Oh, that buffoon never can think when he has food on his mind." She giggles a moment before continuing. "I'm Chaco, by the way! There's more to Grasstown past my house, but the only way through is a tunnel in my fireplace!" Quote groans. "Really? The fireplace? Isn't that a little bit strange?" Chaco simply giggles with a paw in front of her mouth. "The only way to put the fire out is with some Jellyfish jelly, you probable saw them-" Quote, in too much of a hurry, simply dashes through the flames, sending ash tumbling out onto the floor and leaving a very pissed of Chaco behind him.

Not watching where he was heading, of course, left him to go flying out of the other end, which was a couple stories in the air... and directly away from a platform. Quote's head rams directly into the edge of it, and he drops straight to the ground in a pile of groaning metal and rubber. "Oh my god, what the hell did I just hit...?" He looks up, sees the platform, and just groans for a few more moments before standing back to his feet, taking a couple wobbly steps before his head clears enough for him to continue. He looks up and ahead, a steep hill with sudden dropoffs lying before him. He climbs to the edge of the first dropoff, and looks down to see great big red spikes at the bottom. taking a few steps back, he gets a running start and hurtles himself towards the edge at the other side, easily clearning the gap. He stops for just a moment, the next gap a little wider, but only just. He quickly gets to the other side and clears a path through the bats on the other side.

' _Finally, these must be the buildings Santa meant..._ ' A series of buildings lie in front of him, after a rather steep dropoff at his feet. "As long as I'm not ramming into anything else, I suppose." Quote chuckles to himself as he drops down, the earth giving way only slightly to his frame as he lands. It is then that he notices the building directly behind him, hidden away in a cave. ' _Might as well start there_.' He bounds upwards, and into the door.

It's dark. Really dark. There's only a couple of blinking lights on a machine at the far wall, but if not for his robotic vision, Quote doubts he could see anything at all. "Power room..." Quote walks over to the machine and, reading the words on the front, he can clearly see that the lever in front of him will power this building, and the rest of the switches will send that power to the rest of the buildings, as well as the fans they're linked to. He struggles only for a moment with the first switch, a heavy thing stuck in place by age, before it clinks and pulls down into place, the motors inside the machine chugging to life as the lights inside slowly fade on. It is only now that Quote notices the robots in the recesses of the walls, and one in particular that buzzes and whirs as the power turns on. "In...tru...der.. detect... detect... detected! Intruder detected! Battle mode armed!" The robot is smaller than him, but Quote's eyes go wide as the robot points its arms forward, the arms folding open to reveal two massive machine guns hidden beneath. "Oh Shi-" A deep rumble interrupts both him and the attack robot, followed by another rumble, this one louder and closer, a third rumble is pre-empted by a voice, soft through the walls, but Quote just barely makes out what it says. "Huzzah!" Realizing what was about to happen, Quote dives to the far wall just as he hears the voice repeat itself, much more loudly, much more clearly, and absolutely DRENCHED in cheerful attitude. "HUZZAH!" The very moment Quote tumbles into the wall, first the entire door wall, and then half the ceiling, collapse in an explosion of debris.


	5. 5: Surprise, Surprise!

Quote groans, and quickly jumps to his feet. He knew exactly what to expect, after the dust settles, and he pulls out his Polar Star and takes a battle-ready stance, staring into the debris. "There you are!" A wide goofy grin and massive eyes look at Quote from across the room. "You know, you seem to be popping up everywhere I am, lately. Are you following me?" Balrog raises one 'eyebrow' to punctuate he sentence before letting loose a short bout of laughter. "Just kidding! You ready?" As soon as he finishes talking, Balrog launches himself into the air, and towards Quote, but the smaller structure doesn't have the ceiling space their previous fight had, and there was less time to react. Diving underneath, Quote manages to avoid being pulverized, and instead only marks a few nicks and scratches from the chunks of floor that fly at him. "If you're so happy, why are you always attacking me?" Quote fires up as Balrog re positions himself, Quote thinks for another leap, but instead white crackles of energy form all over the rectangular body.

Quote scrambles backwards as the white orbs fling themselves at him, scorching a line of floor where he narrowly avoids being struck repeatedly. He jumps back to his feet and runs backwards as Balrog prepares to jump at him, and Quote aims his own jump at the partially destroyed wall to his side, kicking off of it and grabbing onto Balrog and gripping his hand hard, swinging up behind the boxy man as he fires searing energy repeatedly into his back, kicking off just before the two land. Quote gracefully flips backwards, skidding to a stop with his gun aimed as Balrog slams into the ground, unceremoniously sliding across his face until he comes to a stop. He manages to right himself surprisingly easily, and grins across his face as he prepares to jump again. "This isn't over, robot boy!" He flings upwards, tunneling straight through the cave above with his head, and nearly bringing the entire thing down and burying Quote inside. Scrambling to his feet outside, Quote can't help but imagine just what's wrong with that guy.

It's not until he hears the groaning failure of its voice module that Quote remembers the robot that was smashed into the ground. He goes to inspect it and hears a weak noise. "imminent failure... Help me... Help me... Help... Me..." Quote puts his hands on its head, and pulls it straight out of the ground. It is, apparently, a very sturdy old thing, and seems to be mostly intact, other than a leg that seems to have snapped in two from Balrog's crushing weight. "Thank you!" The robot has no capability to show emotions besides its voice, and with the damage that seems to have taken it seems rendered completely incapable of anything besides a weak, warbled tone. "I can help you, if you need! I make bombs and explosives!" Quote just shrugs and take a mental note. It may come in handy, if he needs more rockets made. "If you head back that way-" Quote motions where he had come from. "-You'll come to a teleporter. You should be safer there than you would be here, and maybe we can help each other." The robot makes a clinking noise as it processes his offer. "This is acceptable. I will wait for you there." The robot bounds out, then over the top of the cave, and disappears. ' _So many strange things happen here..._ '

Quote continues on his way, coming to a few more buildings, and tries the handle on the first one he comes to. Not locked, but the door just won't budge. "Hey! Who's there?!" A voice calls from inside, coming more precisely through a crack in the wall on the other side. "Who are you?!" Quote goes to the crack, lowing himself slightly to speak through it to the man. "I am Quote. I'm looking for a man- Sue's brother Kazuma. Are you Kazuma?" Quote hears the man's feet shuffle, not sure why, but sees a shadow play repeatedly across the crack he's speaking through. "Yes! Yes that's me! Oh thank goodness, thank goodness I'm finally going to get out of here!" Kazuma lowers himself more, his slightly grinning face showing partially through. "The door is rusted shut- it won't open from the inside, and I suspect that was you who was trying to open it... But there are materials for a bomb in this place, you could easily make some with-" Quote takes out his rocket launcher, jumps back, and blasts the door on the other side from Kazuma, hearing a long string of expletives come from the open hole once the doorway finishes crumbling.

Kazuma peeks through the hole at the boy, his face red and eyes glowering. "Are you kidding me?! You could have at least said something!" His face softens as the color leaves his face. "I could have died... Oh my goodness that scared me so badly!" He leans down on his knees, trying to compose himself, then turns towards a noise coming from the building. "Uh oh. That could be-" An old man's voice cut him off. "Kazuma? Is that you blabbering over there?" The geezer steps over past Kazuma and looks at Quote with a look of recognition, then of knowing. "Ah, I see." Is all he cryptically says. "Professor Booster... do you know this boy?" Booster shakes his head as an answer, then looks to the motor bike where it lies on the ground near the shack. "We need to get back to the village, though! We must do what we can to stop the Doctor. He's nearly succeeded." Quote's face turns deadly serious. "The Doctor! Where is he?! I have to save Toroko!" Kazuma and Booster look at him and shake their heads. "There is no way we could get to the doctor, right now. That will take time, and planning, and, maybe, a good deal of luck." The old professor speaks matter-of-factly to him.

"But!" Booster looks to Kazuma. "Do you think it works, Kazuma? Do you think you could operate that?" Kazuma grins confidently, and lifts the vehicle upright. "Are you kidding? Easily. He straddles on the seat, scooting forward to make room for Booster behind him, as he turns the engine on. Almost immediately, it lurches forward once, then twice, without any prompting from its pilot. "Uh oh..." Kazuma's face is the picture of worry itself. He grips on as tightly as he can. "Hold on, it's about to goo—OOO-OOO-OOO!" The bike whizzes forward, nearly striking Quote as he steps around and grabs onto the back- no reason for him to not follow in case these two hurt themselves on this thing!

The bike rockets across the hills, and over, through, and around various plant and animal life that litters the way. Coming near to the small opening that marks the plains by Santa's house, the two men dive off of the bike, screaming and tumbling on the ground as Quote himself abandons it just in time, landing easily enough on his feet as the bike shatters and explodes into tiny shrapnel, most of it embedding into the ground around the crash. The men stand to their feet, brushing off their lab coats and looking around, in wonder that they were unhurt. "Unbelievable...! Remind me to not trust you with any more mechanical work, _or_ let you drive me anywhere, ever again!" Booster's face looks like it's about to explode as he continues to go off on the young man with green hair.

Santa, having obviously heard the wreck, steps outside. Once again, he has flowers bundled up in his hands and is munching on them idly as he meanders from his house to the top of the hill. "Hey!" 'munch munch'. "You guys-" 'munch' "You okay down there?" Quote waves to the pudgy mimiga as Kazuma continues to take in Booster's berating. "Yeah, we're fine!" 'munch munch munch munch' Santa speeds his chewing, having just taken a particularly large mouthful of flowers, and swallows with difficulty, spitting out a few small pieces as he chokes out one more sentence. "Okay then!" He walks back out of view, leaving the robot, an angry old scientist, and the embarrassed young man to walk up the hill behind him, and over to the teleporter. First the humans, and then Quote, send themselves back to Arthur's house.

As he steps off the pad onto the floor, an excited speech, fraught with worry, is already taking place. "-There will not be any stopping him, if he succeeds. He will have won, and we won't be able to stop him, then!" Booster, Kazuma, Sue, King, and Jack are all in the room, everyone listening to the Professor as he finishes talking. He turns to the robot boy and motions him over as King speaks up. "Then what are we waiting for? We need to take this fight to him, and finish this before he finishes us!" He clenches his fist, and looks around at the others, who take on a timid expression. "There's no way we could make it through sand zone- it's full of too many dangers. We don't even have the weapons we would need to do that, let alone the experience..." Kazuma speaks softly, sounding already defeated.

"This one does." Booster nods, and puts a hand on Quote to bring him closer to the others. "He's a scout robot, well built, and was not part of the force that invaded here some ten years ago. He is an entirely different kind, who has always been on our side, whether he knows it or not." He nods at Quote, who looks around at the others, then back to Booster, his expression changing to a serious posture. "I'll do what I can... but you need to tell me what you mean, _now_." He seems almost lost in his thoughts before continuing, not quite sure what he should ask first, and instead ends up asking everything at once. "if I'm not a killer robot, what am I? Have I really been here ten years? What is the Doctor going to do to Toroko?" He stops for a moment, and then phrases his final question. "Why am I here?"

Booster smiles grimly and nods imperceptibly as he confirms in his mind that this robot boy has no memory of anything since he last awoke.


	6. 6: Sometimes History Repeats

Hurray, words! I know, there's a lot of talking in this chapter. I feel like there's no reason Quote was never explained his past, at this point. Booster obviously recognized him, and it was only ten years ago that Miakid was wearing the demon crown. Maybe the others would have been too young at the time to know about what happened, but there's no way that the surface didn't know anything that had happened on the island at that time. It will make the story better, I think, andv it's kind of necessary as a platform for what happens next! I hope it's not too dull for you, and I _had_ to make their encounter a fist-fight; it's so much better that way!

Professor Booster looks to Quote, speaking urgently as he did his best to quickly answer what he could. "I will tell you what I can, and I will tell you what you need to know. Ten years ago, this island fell to war with the surface. An army of robots were sent with the sole mission of safeguarding the demon crown for their master; Miakid. He was a cruel, vile human, who mistakenly thought that the inhabitants of the island would be dangerous, rabid creatures who would stop at nothing to keep their own possession on the crown. He had no idea that he was sending an army to decimate a peaceful species who knew nothing of the object he desired. It was a one-sided affair, to start; the robots annihilated every mimiga... every living thing they laid eyes on. In just a few short days, ninety-percent of the mimiga had been destroyed."

Booster paces thoughtfully, as though he was recounting a story he had seen unfold with his own eyes. "It was genocide, short and simple- the mimiga had no way to defend themselves, and Miakid would stop at nothing to get his hands on that crown. After the crown had been located, he came to the island amid the rubble and violence, and was brought to the temple, high at the top of the island- a place where no mimiga had even been found, and it was unlikely that any mimiga had _ever even seen this place before_." Jack and King listened intently, their expressions of anger and sadness, respectively, confirming that they had seen these events unfold as well.

"Miakid had what he was looking for, and even more, it would turn out." the Professor turned around, the volume of his voice rising slightly as he came to the real reason for his story. "He learned of the red flowers- a side effect of the crown's unfathomable, cruel powers. A mutant offspring of the island's natural ecosystem. Any mimiga that eats a red flower will grow, its strength increasing one hundred fold! And with that strength, its personality would melt away, leaving only a rabid, violent creature, as dangerous as the killer robots themselves. Before Miakid could cultivate, and use the flowers, however, the mimiga learned of their powers for themselves, and used the flowers to decimate the robots, just as they themselves had been destroyed the days before."

A glimmer of recognition sparks in Quote, as though he knew some of this, already- but why did he know this? "While the mimiga were liberating themselves, both you, and another robot were sent here with a mission opposite to the rest of the robots; you were sent here to defeat the holder of the crown, and destroy the crown so that its powers may never be used against those on the surface. You were built with emotions; namely compassion, so that you would not harm any who had done no wrong. Both you and your partner were extraordinarily unique in this. It could only have ever been Momorin's late husband who built you. The man... had a way with mechanics. A genius by his own right, that boy..." Booster shakes his head, getting distracted. "You succeeded, in part of your mission. You managed to wound Miakid fatally, and he died shortly after your confrontation... But all the same, his last act before he died was vengeance, and it was thought that you two were completely destroyed. Apparently his wrath was not quite so thorough."

Booster looks back to Quote, his face struck with urgency. "And history is going to repeat itself if nothing is done! The Doctor has the crown, he has his goons, and he knows about the red flowers! If nothing is done, he plans to use the mimiga, and the flowers, and wage war with the surface! There will be nothing anyone can do about him, if he succeeds! Do you see?" Booster grins slightly, grim, but still hopeful. "Luckily, I know where the seeds for the red flowers have been hidden! You must go to the sand zone- quickly! And destroy the seeds before it is too late!"

Quote nods, but his face is nearly void of expression. He was stuck on a single portion of the story; there was another just like him. He said nothing to any of those in the room, completely lost in his own thoughts as the teleporter sent him to the Sand Zone. 'I wonder if he's still alive...' And steps onto the sand-covered metal platform before him. He continued in his reverie, not really giving much thought to his actions as he vaporized a few bats that thought him to be food, climbed upwards through a fairly treacherous section, and eventually came to a stop as he reached the top, a building before him, and more sand behind him. But he saw something, for just a moment, before the door finished closing. A brief glimpse of yellow, with a pale limb visible for a fraction of a second before disappearing behind it.

Quote cautiously stepped to the door, and opened it, moving through it and inside, a sandy floor, with four mimiga children huddled by the wall away from him. One sees him and shrieks. "Killer robot!" and Quote raises his hands passively, opening his mouth to say he's not, when he's struck in the back of the head, sent to the ground, and rolls over in time to be staring down the barrel of a gun, held by a robot with gleaming blonde hair. "You're not going to hurt anyone ever again!" Quote's eyes shoot wide open, and he swats the gun to the side, sweeping the robot girl's feet before jumping back, holding his hands out once again to claim innocence. "No, I'm not! I'm not going to hurt-" He's cut short by a burst of fire from her gun, laughing slightly as she charges towards him, a strong jab knocking him back before he's able to dodge the next blow. "You're not fooling me, you monster!"

Quote sees no choice, and readies his polar star without drawing it, in case he absolutely needs to use it. He sends his own jab into her side as he clambers to his feet behind her, following it up with a powerful hook to the shoulder, knocking the gun out of her hands and beyond her reach as she catches herself with the other arm, rolling back to her feet. She shouts as she charges again, jumping unexpectedly to the side and backhanding Quote's head, sending him rolling several times as he bounces off the ground. ' _holy crap she's strong!_ ' He manages to stop himself before he hits the wall, and charges back at her, barely able to stop her from grabbing her gun again by unleashing his own strikes, first a punch to the back, stunning her, then sweeping her feet to knock her down, and then a delicate kick to her side, to keep her stunned long enough to throw her gun out of reach, and pin her arms to the ground by her sides, trying to contain her long enough to force conversation. "Will you stop it! I'm not here to hurt _anyone_!" Quote breathes heavily as he looks down at her, fury in her eyes as she tries desperately to kick him off, but to no avail.

The fight slowly leaves her, and she lies still underneath him, closing her eyes and collapsing. "Yeah, right... I did my best, but it still wasn't enough..." He just watches her for several moments, knowing that nothing he says will be enough to convince her, so he takes his polar star out of its holster, and waits for her to open her eyes again before throwing it away and standing up, releasing his grip on her and taking a few cautious steps away. "What...?" She looks up at him, amazed that she's not dead already, and finally realizes that he's been telling the truth. "You mean... You really _are_ on our side! Alright!" She jumps to her feet, and wraps Quote in a massive hug, spinning him around in a whirl. "I've been trying to tell you- I'm no danger to you, or them." He lowers his face as she releases him and clears the blush away from his face, not sure why, or even what he was feeling at the moment.

"Yeah, yeah, but can you blame me?! Who knows what kinds of tricks those killer robots use to get their hands on poor, defenseless mimiga?!" She lowers her head and looks up into his face, the sudden intrusion and proximity to his face only serving to make him blush even harder than before. "What're you doing?" She leans back, standing tall again and holds out her hand, her voice bubbly and friendly. "I'm Curly, Curly Brace! What's your name?" Quote looks back up, grabs her hand timidly and unsure what exactly she was doing, unprepared for when she starts to shake it, his hand and arm clumsily moving his whole body. "I'm Quote. It's nice of you to not kill me!" They both laugh for a moment and exchange grinning faces. "These are the colons; they don't have their parents around any more, because of those monsters, so I take care of them!" She beams back at the mimiga, who have since stopped cowering, and were starting to slowly make their way over to the two robots.

"Come on! He's perfectly friendly!" They walk, tumble, and hop over to Quote, and pull at his pant leg, climb up on top of him, or simply look at him from behind Curly's legs. "I guess that didn't take long!" She chuckles and looks at Quote and her children, some of whom were using him as a jungle gym. "What brings you to the Sand Zone, Mr. Quote?" His grin falls for a moment as he realizes what he's supposed to be doing here, and his voice takes on a slightly tone of urgency. "Right! I was just... so surprised... Nevermind. I'm here to find the red flowers. They're dangerous, and I have to stop someone from taking them!" Curly nods, not knowing what he's talking about, but understanding that he considered his job to be very important. "Well, I don't know personally where those would be... But Jenka would! She knows about anything in the Sand Zone, I imagine!" She pauses for a moment before adding. "And if you're going to go see her, you might as well bring her dog back- I'm sure she's missing him!" Curly goes into a back room and comes back with a puppy, handing it to quote, who fumbles around with it for a moment before looping an arm under the happy thing, tail wagging and licking the side of his face as he holds it against his side.

Quote knows she must be the other robot. His... partner. He can tell. He can tell she's more human than any other robot could possibly be. More than anything, though, he can tell she has compassion. Compassion for the mimiga, for sure, and more emotion than the other robot he had met, for sure! "I know where you can take them, Curly... Somewhere much safer than being here, for sure. Have you ever been to the Mimiga Village?"


	7. 7: Things Are Looking Up

I know, I know, its a short chapter. I might get more done if I can't get back to sleep before I have to work. I wanted to post something, though! I'm perfectly okay with losing some sleep to be able to post something.

A quick question, for anyone who reads this far; what do you think of the first couple chapters? They're shorter, and I'm not sure whether or not I need to revise them some more, or if I should just focus on continuing to move forward with this. Comments are always appreciated!

Quote appeared on the teleporter last, the six tiny mimiga and Curly already grouped into a corner of the room. Professor Booster and Quote exchanged glances as the robot stepped forward towards the men, and the look on the old man's face seemed to confirm what the boy was only hoping to himself. Introductions were brief, and in no time everyone knew each others' names. Booster walked over and corralled Quote beside him as he approached Curly. "I think we three need to have a little chat..." The three stepped outside after King and Jack convinced Curly that they would look after the children in the village.

As the mimiga passed by the man and robots, Curly smiled at the Colons and called out to them. "Everything's okay, kids! You'll be safe here!" Booster just looked at the two and began; "Quote... you probably already know what I'm going to say, but Curly... There are some things I think you need to know."

The Professor repeated his story, much the same as the first time, and Curly's face shows her anger, her sadness, and her determination by the time he's nearly finished. "I was amazed when I saw this boy here... And I just can't believe how our luck has changed, seeing you before me now." Curly looks over to the boy, a reserved smile across his face as he hopes she is able to accept what she's just been told. "I've... only ever known my kids, and taking care of them. I don't... I can't believe that I'm as important as you tell me." Quote's face seems to fall, his hopes of having a companion for his mission looking to be dashed just as quickly as they had appeared. "But... I have to believe that if anything else... I have to do what I can to protect my kids!" Curly grins widely, and nods towards Quote, his own grin beaming as he watches and listens. "I know why you brought me here... And I'm not quite convinced that I am who you think I am, but I can't just let this 'Doctor' guy do whatever he wants to the mimiga!" She pumps a fist and turns to the professor. "We're gonna get those red flowers, and stop this guy's plan in its tracks! He doesn't stand a chance!"

Quote nods at Booster, and looks back to Curly. "We need to get going, then! There's no telling how soon he'll get his hands on those seeds, and we can't let that happen!" They head back inside after Curly says a brief goodbye to her kids, tearing up slightly as she walks away, sniffling slightly by the time they find themselves in the Sand Zone. "Are you okay?" Quote leads the way, a few paces ahead of Curly as they climb back towards the house they had met in. "I'll be fine... They'll be safe, with their own kind... We just have to stop this guy. If he gets those flowers, everyone... Everyone will be in danger, including my kids." She cracks a weak smile towards him as they reach the top of the chasm, heading away from the house, and Quote nods at her before facing ahead. "I'll keep doing everything I can to stand in his way. There's no way I'll let him hurt your kids, Curly." They pick up the pace just a little, still using some caution, but making quick work of everything in their way as they make it to a dead end wall of crumbling bricks.

This looks new... but it's poorly built. I think this was made to block the path." Quote feels the surface of the wall, and falls backwards as blasts of energy tear their way into the wall, knocking it to the ground in a pile of rubble just in front of him. "C-C-..Curly!" He looks past the ruined wall, another just like it a dozen meters ahead. "You could have warned me! What if it had fallen on top of me?!" She laughs and jumps over him before he picks himself up, following behind her as she destroys a dozen walls ahead of them, finally reaching a large square room, all the walls built of solid metal. "I guess this is it, then..." Curly says and she stands in the middle. "There must be something more here!" They look around for a few moments before hearing a strange noise from the space behind them. They turn quickly, both their weapons drawn towards a shape as it begins to appear in the air. Quote growls lowly, clearly becoming more ready for a fight as he recognizes the woman before them. "Misery!" The witch grins smugly, and looks down at the duo. "Ha! I see you two found each other! I suppose you think that makes things better for you, don't you?" She raises her staff, and Curly gives a quick look to Quote, his face angry and his gun aimed straight at her. She turns back to the witch and mentally prepares herself for a confrontation.

"Unfortunately for you, this is going to be the end of this." The air around the staff's head crackles with black electricity, and as she begins to lower it towards the two, the entire room shudders, interrupting the impending fight. "Misery seems confused, but only for a moment, before recognition fills her expression. "Oh, well, I suppose I don't even have to take care of matters myself. She sends a wicked grin at them before lowering her staff and disappearing. "Goodbye, meddlers." Another quake shakes the ground, and the two look around, trying to figure out the source of the tremors. "What's doing this?" Curly looks around, and slowly her face seems to become frightened. "I think..." She suddenly remembers something she heard, and her face pales. "Uh oh... The desert guardian..." Quote looks over to her. "What is it?" He follows her lead as she inches towards a wall. "I don't know what it is, only that it's powerful. It guards the deepest areas of Sand Zone."

The ground shudders one more time, sand sinking down towards the center of the room before a massive set of pincers burst from underneath. An ear-splitting screech disorients the two for a moment, watching the enormous monster, then looking to each other and preparing to fight the behemoth.


	8. 8: Too Late

I know, it's been about a month. I have had a lot of personal things going on and its making it hard for me to do anything, and to top it off I've been getting read to move later on this month. I hope to start coming out with chapters more quickly, and I even have a good amount of the next chapter written already. Just bear with me! I'm... trying to try, haha.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this one. It's longer than the others have been, and the chapters probably will be in general for the rest of the story.

The Sand Zone guardian's shrill cry dies down, before it shivers for a second and withdraws under the sand. Quote and Curly look around for a few moments until Quote notices a small trail of sand being disturbed from underneath. The sand moves around for a short while, making small, whirling patterns, before speeding up and moving over towards Curly. "Look out!" He runs and dives, tackling her out of the way just as the beast emerges from below, throwing sand up in a cloud. The two stand up, and turn to face it as the sand falls back towards the floor, and they see a plume of various spores rise from its gaping maw. Some spores are simply large clumps of dirt and rock, but others have a red tint and metal mechanisms showing through. Curly runs towards the behemoth, firing up into the spores to clear a path before turning her machine gun to the monster, firing all over to determine where it may have any weak spots. Most of the shots collide harmlessly with the hard armor that most of its body is encased in, but as the shots hit more towards the center, a low growl informs her to the areas weakness. Quote, meanwhile, is using his polar star to decimate the remaining spores before they fall to either himself or Curly. It retreats back under the sand, and resumes moving about underneath.

It continues its swirling pattern, and this time both of the bots are prepared when it quickens towards Quote, and he dives away as it begins to emerge. He rolls to his feet and they both begin firing repeatedly at the center, eventually revealing a glowing red orb. Curly's machine gun fire draws upwards to blast away the spores as they begin drifting towards them, and they both wince and cover their ears again as another ear-splitting screech fills the air. Omega shudders for a second, steam shooting from the joints in the legs as a couple pieces of its hard covering allow the legs to move more freely, and it launches itself upwards towards Quote. Caught off guard, he barely makes it away from the crushing weight of its leg as rocks and dust fly up all around, smaller pieces of stone cutting across his rubber skin. As he rolls back up to his feet, he watches as it prepares to launch itself up again, and both Quote and Curly run underneath as it does, turning to fire again at the vulnerable eye and spores in turns.

The two robots continue to blast away at Omega, dodging both spores and crushing legs without incident, and before long they see a crack in the eye widen, bright red light spilling from it as steam and smoke billow from the inner mechanisms. The ground shakes as Quote turns his back to the monster, pushing Curly down to the ground and using his body to shield her from the fire and debris that nearly fills the room. As the sounds of destruction end, he turns his head behind him to see a smoldering pit of sand sliding downwards where Omega once stood, then turns back to Curly, a wide grin on his face. "Uhm..." He notices her embarrassed expression, and is confused for a moment before recognition comes across his features. "Oh! Sorry..." He stands carefully, and offers her a hand, pulling her up to her feet. He reaches behind his head and scratches slightly, looking away towards the ground for a moment. "Sorry about that." He look back towards her as her hand comes to rest on his shoulder. "No, don't... thanks." She grins slightly, then turns towards the once closed door that seems to have been blown open by a large chunk of Omega's eye that had been blasted through it.

As Quote leads the way, Curly notices Quote's shrapnel-torn shirt and slightly charred skin underneath, and stops him with a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?" He turns to face her, confused. "Yeah, why?" He notices her attention towards his back, and he tries to turn his head to see what it was she was looking at. "Oh..." He catches a glimpse of black skin and shrugs at her, grinning slightly. "I must be. If it was anything serious I'd know, right?" Curly just sighs and shakes her head. "Okay then. Lets get a move on. We can't let them get to those flowers." The duo head out the obliterated doorway and back from where they came, positive that they must have missed something when they had come this way the first time. Shortly, they notice a section of floor that had moved apart since they had last seen it, and peer down towards the poorly built platforms below. "I guess there's nowhere to go but down..." Curly looks over at Quote, only to find that he's already dropped down below and is calling up to her. "Come on, slowpoke!"

They move quickly down, carefully shooting holes into the platforms as they need to, and come to a leveling off, with a small shack build a short distance in a sandy clearing. Cautiously, they approach and knock on the door, and are answered by a strong, but raspy female voice. "Come on in!" The two look to each other, and then enter. An old woman sits in a chair, two old dogs lying on the floor next to her. The woman's expression is filled with caution and distrust for the two, but she speaks evenly and friendly. "What is it that I can do for you?" Curly steps closer, and speaks up immediately. "We need to find the red flowers! There's a witch, sent by an evil man, and they're trying to-" "No. I won't let you get the flowers. They hold a power you can't even begin to understand. Years ago, those flowers nearly destroyed everything on this island, and would have been enough to conquer everything on the surface below. Those flowers are too powerful to ever be seen again!" The woman speaks resolutely, leaning forward and standing as she speaks to emphasize the importance of her words. Quote looks to the ground, then the woman's eyes, and sets his face defiantly. "If you don't help us find them, then Misery and the Doctor will get to them first, and I won't let that happen. The flowers must be destroyed."

The woman sits back down, leaning her cane against the chair and putting her hands to her temples, sighing heavily. "My name is Jenka. I have been on this island as long as its been held aloft in the sky... It is my duty to see that its power is protected from falling into the wrong hands... How can I trust you two, with only your word to go on?" She grins, and looks to the two, leveling her gaze. "Find my dogs, and I will help you." Quote and Curly look to each other with an exasperated disbelief at the woman's request. "Or will you not help this old woman find her only company...?" Curly sighs, and looks to Quote, who had already begun to speak. "We'll find them. And then we're going to destroy those flowers. You have no idea how important it is to me. To us." He looks sidelong at Curly, who nods her head at Quote, then looks back to the woman. "I know where a dog is... how many do you need us to find?" "three more. Bring me my three precious companions, and I'll know I can trust you." Quote leads Curly back out the door before Curly speaks up. "I know there's a dog in my old home... I'm not sure where the other two might be. Quote nods, and the two begin climbing back up, and head towards the dog they know of.

"Why do you think she won't help us? Doesn't she understand what's gonna happen if we don't get to the flowers in time?" Curly grits her teeth in frustration, picking up the pace. "She doesn't know who to trust. How does she know we aren't going to use the flowers for ourselves, rather than destroy them?" He catches up with her, and the two quickly arrive at the house. Curly steps inside the empty space, looking around deep in thought, as Quote steps into the back room. He goes right up to the dog, which immediately barks, its tail whipping up sand as it sits watching him. He looks around at the bed, and dresser, and other small furnishings that fill the tiny room. He picks the dog up, grinning it as it sloppily licks all over his face, and heads back to Curly, who is still wandering, touching the post of one of her orphan's beds. She snaps her head up, and giggles as Quote struggles to hold onto the writing dog as it continues trying to lick all over his face. "Come on, Quote, let's get him back to Jenka.

The two arrive back at Jenka's house, and step inside to see four dogs, and Jenka brushing sand off of her robes. She looks up at them and grins, the dog launching itself from Quote's clutches towards her, yipping and barking the whole way. "Uh... But..." Quote looks back to the door, then the dogs, and then Jenka, thoroughly confused at how the other dogs had made it into the room. Jenka laughs heartily, smiling widely at the confused boy. "You don't really think I'm that helpless, do you? I suppose if I appear so frail, it's only that much more advantage for this old woman." She grins. "I just needed to know that I could trust you. Besides." Her expression turns sour. "Misery and Balrog showed up while you were gone, before I went to get my dogs. I had no idea the Demon Crown had a new master. Things are more serious than I thought." She looks to Quote, then Curly, and throws a key towards them. "Go. Stop those two, and stop the Doctor. If he gets those flowers... I fear it may be too late to stand in his way. You'll find the warehouse at the end of the corridor down below." Without another word, Quote catches the key, nods to Curly, and the two head out as quickly as they can. "Good luck, you two..." Jenka sighs and sits back in her chair, hoping for the best, and worrying about the worst. "If only I had stopped you when I had the chance..."

Quote and Curly make a break for the bottom of the pit, blasting away at the platforms and skeletal monsters that stand in their way, pausing for a moment at the bottom. They look ahead to a long clearing, filled with giant birds, and skeletons, and all manner of beasts in their way, with platforms all along the way that seem to be the only way across. Readying their weapons, Quote takes the lead, nimbly jumping across the first few platforms without slowing, and arriving at the first group of monsters. He dodges a few bone clubs as they head towards him, sliding under before jumping up, firing his Polar Star at the bird to take it down before grabbing onto the skeleton's shell, swinging it and himself into a flip to send it to the ground where it shatters, the force of the throw launching him to the next safe floor. Curly jumps over him as he lands on the ground, machine gun blasting away at the next two before they can get an offensive together, Quote following close behind as the two make their way to the last platform without having to slow down through the opposition.

They make it across the last gap and stand for a moment looking towards the zigzagged hill ahead of them, and head off at a run. A few scattered bone beasts block their way, but barely slow them down as they reach the top of the last rise and look out towards a set of pillars with wide gaps between them, swarms of huge birds blocking their advance. The two jump across to the top of the first pillar, and a small number of birds take notice, heading towards them. As their machine gun and polar star take them down, the closest swarm begins squawking, flying towards them in a cloud of green feathers and red eyes. By the time the first one reaches them, most have been taken down already, and a few punches and blasts later the rest have been defeated, clearing the way for them to jump across several more gaps, to see a much larger swarm hovering over one of the last pillars before the last landing beyond. They simultaneously fire into the mass of birds, doing their best to take out as many as they can, but a number of them still manage to make it through the barrage and scratch and peck at the bots. Curly starts swinging her rifle like a club, battering away the vicious birds, while Quote continues blasting them out of the air.

"Whaaaa...!" Quote turns his head as his feet lift off the ground, and sees the bird that is struggling to lift his weight upwards, and turns to fire at it just as it moves over the air beside the pillar. "Quote!" Curly blasts the last two before diving for the ledge, catching his hand just before he falls out of reach. Looking down, Quote sees massive red spikes longer than he is tall, and sighs slowly. "Th-thanks. Those things look deadly." She helps him up and to his feet, and they lock eyes for just a few moments."We should get on, then... I think I see it just up ahead..." Despite saying this, Quote continues looking to Curly's face, before realizing that their hands are still clasped tightly. He lets go, and looks down for a moment, before turning back towards their destination, and launching himself deftly across. They come to a large building, looking forgotten, but still structurally sound, and walk to the door. "Lets finish this, once and for all, Curly." He inserts the key, turns it, and opens the door.

Looking inside, Quote's breath stops as he see what is before him. King, burnt and bloodied, lies just past the doorway. Toroko is just beyond, writhing in pain as her voice begins to get lower, turning more to growls than squeals. At the end of the room, Misery floats near the ceiling above a tall man with a large stone crown on his head, a red orb in the center, who watches as first Quote, and then Curly step inside, both their faces contorted in confusion and anger. Misery sends a vile grin their way before the Doctor speaks to her. "Tend to Balrog. These two won't be any more trouble for us, soon." Misery gives a bow of her head, and then disappears as the Doctor turns to them. "Well, well... It's that soldier from the surface, that Misery and Balrog say have been... quite troublesome. And would you just look! We have the matching set right here! No matter... that mimiga will prove to be more than you're expecting, to be sure..." The Doctor laughs loudly as he begins to fade away. Quote and Curly charge at him, but their attacks meet with air as he disappears completely.

"Damnit...! Just... shit." Quote turns to Curly, who is looking around where plants had been ripped from the ground. "They got the flowers." Quote turns his attention to the spots she is examining, and sighs dejectedly. "We can still stop them. Somehow, we have to..." The two turn towards a low growling sound, and watch as Toroko's body lurches, bones cracking and body growing before their eyes. Her muscles bulge and expand into a hulking beast much larger than they would have imagined a mimiga could ever become. "My god... Is this the power of the red flowers...?" Curly looks on in horror as Toroko rises to her feet, bloodshot red eyes locking onto her as a savage roar fills the room, and she charges at the two companions.

"No!" Quote grabs Curly and jumps over Toroko's first charge, barely evading a ground-shaking swing of her paws as Curly recovers from her shock. "Thanks, Quote..." "We have to stop her... Somehow. We have to be able to save her..." The enraged mimiga pulls a huge block from the wall and launches it at the two, who dive to avoid it as Toroko follows just behind, hitting Quote and sending him up into the ceiling. A second strike launches him across the room and he recovers into a roll as he hits the ground. In two strikes, the mimiga had caused massive damage to his internal structures. "I... I..." He looks in horror as Toroko comes bearing down on him, and he jumps off the wall behind him to gain some more height over her. Regrouping next to Curly as Toroko tries to free her hand from the wall it had gone through.

Fear and anger in her voice, Curly shakily whispers. "We don't have a choice... She'll tear us apart..." She takes her machine gun out, and Quote unholsters his Polar Star, a blank expression on his face as survival instincts take over. Toroko charges again, a huge chunk of stone still stock on one hand, and the two let loose a volley over energy at her. Quote rolls to the side, and Curly jumps over head as Toroko wildly swings the sledgehammer arm where they were standing, clipping Curly's foot as it comes over the mimiga's head, sending her spinning to the ground. Quote stops attacking just in time to catch her, and dives backwards to avoid the next swing, chunks of stone flying everywhere as the block shatters against the ground this time. "Shit...!" Quote drops curly as a large piece of debris lodges itself in his shoulder. The two fall to the ground and have to scramble to avoid being crushed under a double hammer fist, but Curly's foot is grabbed before she can make it far enough away. "Quote!" Toroko raises Curly overhead with one hand, as though she weighs nothing at all. "CURLY!" Quote charges, dropping below a jab from Toroko's over hand, and springs up into a kick flip that strikes the mimiga squarely in the jaw. She releases Curly, who scrambles away as Quote continues blasting Toroko as she stumbles backwards for a moment, screeching.

Quote lands on his feet, still shooting, and prepares to avoid another charge as Curly opens fire beside him. The next attack never comes, and the two stop firing as Toroko crumples to her knees, the powerful roar slowly degrading into a defeated squeal as its body quickly reverts to its normal form. Battered, bloodied, and singed all over, Toroko looks to Quote and smiles weakly. "I'm... Sorry..." She falls face first as Quote rushes to her, rolling her over and holding the tiny thing in his lap. "To.. Toroko...?" Tears slowly roll down his face and drip down as the mimiga begins turning to ash, and blowing away. "Toroko! No!" He himself falls to his face, crumpled up as Curly moves to stand beside him, tentatively placing a hand on his shoulder. "Quote...?"

Suddenly he jerks up and Curly steps away in surprise, his eyes landing on the other small form by the doorway. He runs over to King's body and kneels beside him. "King...?" He rolls his form over, and sighs as he sees him still breathing, but weakly. He coughs once, an expression of dread filling his features. "I failed... Toroko... I failed my people..." Red comes up as he coughs again, some of it staining Quote's skin. "Please... Take this, and avenge her... You must stop him..." His eyes slowly close, and his breathing comes to a stop just after he places his sword in Quote's hand, his own arm falling to the ground. Quote stays there for a while, head down, and hand gripped tightly around the sword.

Curly steps over to him again, placing a hand on him and simply waiting in silence beside the grieving robot boy. She hadn't known Toroko, and only briefly met King, but she could understand Quote's bond to the Mimigas, and he had just watched two of them die. One of them by his own hand, no less. "Quote... We're gonna get him, for this. He won't get away with any of it." He turns slightly, drying tears streaked down his face, eyes blank as he looks on her soft features, and he starts to come around, his blanked expression replaced with anger, then a deep sadness, as he lowers his gaze back to the dead Mimiga in front of him. Rising to her feet, Curly steps to the door. "I'll leave you be... and wait for you outside." She turns one last time to look back before heading out the door.

After a few minutes of silence, a loud 'Crack!' draws him out of his reverie, and he jumps to his feet and runs outside to see Curly lying on the ground. "No!" He runs over beside her, then looks up, trying to find whoever had done this. Seeing nothing, he turns back to her and rolls her over to see she's still breathing. "Huzzah!" His eyes widen, and he looks up as he throws Curly away from himself as hard as he can.

And then everything turns to black.


End file.
